Hutchinson, Allison pace Rebels at Chickasaw Trails

MOULTON -- Vestavia Hills High School sophomore Bryce Hutchinson continued his hot start to the 2016 cross-country season at the Chickasaw Trails Invitational on Saturday morning. 

Two weeks removed from a season opener that saw the lanky distance runner trim nearly a full minute off his previous personal best, Hutchinson notched a 10th-place finish in the large school boys race. 

He clocked a time of 16 minutes, 15.15 seconds for the 5K race distance. 

"He has a lot of potential, a lot of talent, and we've seen that from him since eighth grade," Vestavia head coach Brett Huber said. "It's exciting. He put in a good summer."

Hutchinson ran well as a freshman last fall, posting a season-best time of 16:47. But this year, he's taken his game to another level. 

At the Montevallo Early Bird Twilight Classic on Aug. 26, he blasted through the elite 16-minute barrier -- an almost unheard-of leap at such an early point in the season. 

Huber said that Hutchinson's season-opening time of 15:54 represented a nearly 90-second improvement from his first race in 2015. 

Following Saturday's performance, Hutchinson credited a heavy summer of training for his early-season results. 

"During the summer, I trained a ton, so that was really cool. It helped a ton," he said. 

Hutchinson helped the Vestavia boys to a 13th-place team finish at Chickasaw Trails. Juniors Joseph Gilroy and Grayson Holbert were the Rebels' second and third finishers. They placed 78th and 79th, respectively. 

On the girls side, junior Sasha Allison led the way with a 32nd-place finish. She registered a time of 20:37. 

"She's just a little Duracell bunny -- a hard worker," Huber said of Allison. "When she's out there, she's going to give it all."

MaryGriffith Lytle and Sophia Velezis trailed behind Allison in 80th and 82nd-place, respectively.